Nrrrrrvous

[LBTC]

as my dear friend said to me before my first race last year

"go kick some butt, girlie!"

you can do it! do something relaxing Friday and Saturday, then race like a demon child on Sunday and have a blast!! I suppose we can wait for Monday for your report...

namaste,
~T~

[smurfalicious]

Thanks gals for all your support. I've moved from 90% nerves 10% excited to a nice 50/50 balance of the two. I'm off to pick up my packet today at the shop that's sponsoring the event. Might get a new jersey, after all the race is mother's day and I do have lots of kids, just none of them walk on two legs. Scratch that, the chickens do

I figure this one is just like a schooling show. Then we'll do the next race two weeks from now which is also local and take what we (me and Pony) learned from this race and apply it to the next one. I'm actually pretty stoked because the beginner women's field should mostly be the chicks from this local bike club. If that's the case, yeah they may climb better than me, but they are slooooow downhill. What reward is there for a good climb if you ride back down on your brakes? I'm a nut job downhill, so all I gotta do is stay close up the hills!

It's hard not getting on my bike, I know there's nothing more I can do other than enjoy my day off. I always get mad at people who stress their horses out by trying to fix a problem they have at home once they bring the horse to the show. If I ride today, I'm no better. I can do what I can do, ride how I can ride, and clean what I clean. *sigh*

Think I'll rent a yoga video and chill.

love and cookies
-HillBill

[KSH]

A quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson...

He once heard a High Counsel telling a younger person, "Always do what you are afraid to do".

[Trek420]

smurfalicious "Think I'll rent a yoga video and chill. "

good idea! just breath, smurf.

we can't wait to hear about your race.

[Bike Goddess]

Hey Smur- Good thinking! Treat your race as a learning experience. Go for it, and learn at the same time! You'll be the wiser in the end!

We're all behind you as you scamper up those hills!

Now for the race report! You could do a little visualization of what the end will be like for you. That often works for me. Good luck and happy racing!

[MightyMitre]

Hi Smurf

Well, it's 11.30 pm right now in the UK and I'm waiting for your race report.

How was it?
Are you still in one piece?
Did you get you arse kicked or did they all step aside and let the expert Smurf show them how it's done?

Tell us, tell us, tell us...

Liz - Mighty Impatient.

[smurfalicious]

Well gals, I did it. Oh sure, there were times when I really wanted to die, wanted to load my bike in the next pickup I saw and quit. Heck, load it into *my* pickup when I came by it once. I was so super nervous that I couldn't really eat much before hand and I paid the price. I really should have brought a shot along because I was dying.

I made a big mistake and took all my excitement into trying to ride everyone else's race, and I would have won, if the race was about 3 miles. Anyway, I toughed out the whole 14 miles but I did a lot of hike-a-bike. It really wasn't more climbing than I could handle, but I was feeling half dead.

I'm not too stressed though, I finished despite having to clear out a million times for the upper level riders who lapped my sorry butt. Oh well, they were for the most part super cool and understanding. One of them passed me, and I grinned and told him I'd let him by this year, but give me a couple years I'll kick his butt. Guys were impressed I was riding a hardtail, they loved my streamers, and when I took this big old drop and sailed down a big old hill I never would have done at home, this super hot guy behind me was so nice! He totally congratulated me! Like, genuinely stoked I did it, not just glad I didn't crash in front of him!

So I know I have a lot of work to do, and that's cool. That's all this was about, having fun, which I did, and didn't. I know that I need to get comfortable with people passing me. I got so nervous that I'd nearly wreck rather than focusing on the task at hand. I'm gonna spend the rest of my training rides on Grey Butte, I can do the length, but I just haven't gotten my climbing strength yet.

Anyway, I was pretty stoked. Everyone was very friendly, supportive, and hello today! Hot guys everywhere....

[edit] I almost forgot, it rained like a cow peeing on a flat rock all morning long! The trail was slicker than snot, which freaked me out because I've only ridden hard pack, and sand. I know how sand handles, and damp hard pack, mud scares me. It finally stopped raining once we started, but that definately put a damper on things. [/edit]

love and cookies
-smurf

[LBTC]

way to go, smurf! you made it!!
<hugs>

that first race is a doozy, isn't it? hey, all this time I thought it was a road race, but this was mtb? cool. Last year I did 2 races a week apart. I was behind 2nd place by 30 seconds. I never knew. so....I analyzed the race, figured out what to differently, and, luckily with the next race only a week away, I even remembered all that. I won my category that race. *sigh* it's the race I missed this weekend, but that's okay. I must get well before kicking more butt.

so, you need to learn to eat and fuel and take along cliff shots or whatever goo works for you - enough to for one every 20 minutes (just in case), and, I guess, some practice riding in the wet could help, and, well, you know better than I do what you need to do. Not racing everyone who comes along is a good one, too. keep on it!

You did awesome to finish, and you're in great spirits despite how hard it seemed at the time. I"m proud of you, girl!!

when's that next race? 3 weeks from now? you'll do amazing!!

Namaste,
~T~